


Little Star

by igrab



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, gratuitous kid fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 16:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igrab/pseuds/igrab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps this was their gift, their treasure, the light in the darkness after losing so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StealthLiberal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StealthLiberal/gifts).



> This is fully based on and inspired by [this gifset](http://tauuuriel.tumblr.com/post/74195178383/stealth-liberal-arewenotpartofthisworld). I regret nothing.

It was not probable, not in the slightest. But then, many impossible things had happened on the quest to Erebor, and this - perhaps this was their gift, their treasure, the light in the darkness after losing so much.

Of all the dwarves under the mountain, it was Thorin that she followed like a duckling, tugging on the edges of his surcoat and babbling in a mixture of Westron and Elvish, with bits and bobs of Khuzdul thrown in among them. _Eliním_ , they called her, their little star, and in face and voice she was such a perfect blend of her parents that no one could question the veracity of her lineage.

Thorin had been wary at first. Children were not his strong suit, no matter what Dís said, and when little Elin started following him, it just made him nervous. What if he did something wrong, what if he hurt her? She looked so delicate, so… innocent.

But then she smiled at him, and his heart fell apart.

Tauriel came in from the snow and shook her head, scattered snowflakes everywhere. Hearing a giggle that sounded suspiciously like her daughter, she followed the sound until she came to Thorin’s sitting room, and was not surprised in the slightest to see her babe with her little fingers buried in Thorin’s thick hair, making messy braids and laughing at the curls.

"She’s very fond of you," Tauriel murmured, smiling, and Elin whipped around with a huge grin.

"Amad!" She shouted, shoving off Thorin’s lap and running over to her. Tauriel scooped her up, taking careful note of how she was growing, sturdy and strong like her ada but graceful like the elves on her mother’s side.

"Hello, little one. Have you been pestering your uncle very much?"

Elin nodded, attempting to be solemn but unable to help a cheeky grin that peeped around it. “He was teaching me how to make pretty braids like you and Ada have!”

"Is that so?" Tossing a grateful look to the king over her shoulder, she wandered out, headed for the chambers that she shared with Kili and his brother. "Did he tell you what they mean?"

"A little," Elin acknowledged, tipping her head to the side and cuddling in to Tauriel’s neck. "He said dwarves put braids in their hair when they love someone! So I said, did Uncle Bib put these in yours? And he said yes. Can I give you braids, Nana?"

Tauriel’s smile was quiet and radiant. “I don’t know, do you love me?”

She could feel the way her little girl pouted, and could certainly feel her kick. “ _Gi melin, Nana!_ ”

"Then yes, yes you may. Speaking of love, where’s your Ada?"

"That way!"

Elin twined her little fist in Tauriel’s hair and directed her through the maze of Erebor, down to the workshops where Kili and Fili had cleared a space for gemcutting. Tauriel wasn’t entirely sure how Elin knew about this—it was distressing, thinking that her daughter had wandered so near such sharp tools—but dwarves were nothing if not careful, and her little bright star would never shy from getting anyone’s attention.

"Ada!" she called out, and Tauriel smiled as she saw her husband’s brown head jerk up, instinctively attuned to the sound of his babe’s voice.

A smile broke over his face as he saw them there—a true smile, wide and genuine, with such surprise and love in his eyes that Tauriel felt her heart melting just that much more. Would he ever believe that Tauriel was his, that she loved him more than anything in the world? That their daughter was manifest proof of that?

No, she thought, as Kili jumped up and ran over to give his girls a messy, whiskery kiss. He would always be surprised. Always stunned, always joyful, always full of awe, that such happiness could be his.

"Are you done working, Ada? Uncle Thorin taught me how to make braids and I want to put them in your hair."

Kili’s smile could rival the light of the sun. “You can put as many braids in my hair as you like, little star. And I shall certainly return the favor.”

There was a reason that Tauriel loved it here, under the mountain, even if it was far from the trees she’d grown up with. There were no trees, but there was love, love fit to bursting, and Tauriel would not trade it for all the beautiful woodlands of Arda. She was home.


End file.
